Love is a magical feeling. There’s something so special about it, that keeps you going despite all the hurdles. It extends beyond the barriers of caste, religion and gender.
A gay couple from Kerala decided to capture the essence of their love through a pre-wedding photoshoot and shared the pictures on Facebook.
The couple Nived Antony Chullickal and Abdul Rehim announced their wedding through the photoshoot, the pictures of which soon went viral on social media.
In conversation with Indian Express, Nived revealed that he wanted to send across the message that same-sex marriages are completely normal like any other wedding in India. He said:
We didn’t expect it to go viral at all. It wasn’t done to get publicity but to spread the message to people in my community that this is possible, this is normal.
In a bid to do everything that normal couples do, they have planned almost all the traditional wedding ceremonies.
We did the photoshoot because we wanted to do everything that normal couples do for their weddings. So, we have planned for haldi, sangeet, mehendi and everything.
They also want to change the perception of society with regard to same-sex marriages, or these photoshoots.
We did it to show that gay couple shoots can be as beautiful and romantic as any other couple shoot and there’s nothing cringy or vulgar about it.
Their romantic photoshoot also included their pets – dogs and guinea pigs.
The message they wanted to send across is quite clear: their love is completely normal. And this is how Nived puts it in words:
I know how scary it can be. Coming out is not easy. Openly expressing your love is sadly still not easy in our country and it might come to haunt you for sometime. But once that light shines on you it just gets better. I just hope our photoshoot makes others realise it’s better to just do it and not wait or miss out on anything in love because it’s beautiful.
As per Indian Express, the couple has been in a relationship for 5 years and have decided to tie the knot in an English ceremony in Bangalore, later this month. While they initially planned to get married in the US, the Supreme Court verdict with respect to Section 377 made it easy for them to plan their wedding in India.
Isn’t it the most beautiful photoshoot with the most beautiful message for all lovers out there?
